Review added January 13, 2005.
Godzilla
:: DVD Review |
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Studio:
Columbia TriStar |
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>> Review
Equipment |
Video:
2.35:1 (Enhanced for 16:9) |
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Length:
133
Minutes |
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 (384kbps) En |
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Subtitles: En |
Dolby Digital
2.0 (192kbps) En |
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Disc Format:
RSDL DVD-9 |
Video Format:
PAL |
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Disc Capacity Utilised:
6.49GB |
Layer Change:
54:33 |
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Region Coding:
4 |
Average Bit-Rate (A+V):
5.33Mbps |
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:: The Film
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>> Skip to
Audio/Video Details
Following the modest successes
'Universal Soldier' and 'Stargate', and the incredible
success of 'Independence Day', Columbia TriStar commissioned
the producer/director duo of Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin
to produce a summer blockbuster, and to hopefully repeat the
success of 'Independence Day'. Godzilla was the result,
going head to head with the summer's other would-be
blockbuster, 'Armageddon'.
While 'Armageddon' went on to
become 1998's summer success, Godzilla bombed, and it really
isn't hard to see why. Godzilla's basic premise is silly,
but certainly capable of entertaining (just ask Japanese
studio Toho), but this film simply fails to capitalise on
the franchise's potential. The script is strictly average,
but its dialogue is truly awful, even by summer blockbuster
standards.
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The film's special effects are also of
surprisingly poor quality: the kiss of death for a popcorn
blockbuster. The cast, in the form of Matthew Broderick,
Jean Reno and Hank Azzaria do an admirable job (the less
said about Maria Pitillo the better), but can't salvage the
film. Watch at your own risk, and don't say you haven't been
warned!
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::
Video
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This 2.35:1 anamorphically-enhanced transfer comes to us
from Columbia TriStar, the people behind many of the best
DVD transfers. While this isn't a bad transfer, it's far
from the best I've seen from Columbia TriStar, and was a
definite disappointment. The print used was in immaculate
condition, with hardly a nick or speck to be seen. Colour
saturation was also very good, with colours appearing
natural, although skin-tones occasionally took on an ever
so slightly yellow hue.
Aliasing wasn't a problem and the picture is
usually sharp, although fine detail on actors' faces
cannot be made out as clearly as I would like. The film's
constant darkness, rain and general murkiness often makes
the sharpness of the picture difficult to determine.
Blacks are poorly rendered, appearing dark gray rather
than black and grain is occasionally prominent.
Disappointingly, shadow detail is frequently poor to
non-existent; detail is either clearly visible or
completely obscured. This may well be an artistic or
technical decision on the part of the film's makers: a
technique common to CGI-oriented films used to cover up
minor effects flaws.
There are no significant blocking compression
artefacts to be seen, although the frequent smoke and rain
often appears slightly unnatural, and digital 'crawl' can
be seen in several scenes, as at 60:10 where a wall
positively crawls with digital noise. On a relative scale,
this is a fine transfer, but a definite step down from the
very best I have seen. Four stars.
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:: Audio
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This Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is certainly impressive,
with constant and aggressive use of all channels, although a
lack of integration makes it a somewhat wearying experience
after prolonged exposure. Dialogue is clear and easy to
understand, with well-integrated, natural-sounding ADR
dialogue and little in the way of centre channel pegging. The
front soundstage is nicely cohesive, with the front three
channels blending seamlessly together and constantly active,
creating an engaging and convincing front soundstage. The
surround and LFE channels, however, do not blend with the
front channels at all well, constantly drawing attention away
from the front soundstage.
The LFE channel contains some mighty
slabs of bass well below 30Hz, but seems somewhat bloated,
with a tendency to overwhelm the other channels. The surround
channels are constantly active, containing too many full-range
split-surround effects to count, although these too were
several dB too loud for my taste, frequently becoming
distracting. With some tweaking, this becomes a fine
soundtrack, although the poor integration of the LFE and
surround channels in its unaltered state count against it.
Had the surround and LFE channels
integrated as well as the front channels, this soundtrack
would certainly be worthy of five stars, but I can only give
it four. I'm sure this soundtrack's aggressive LFE and
surround channels will be welcomed by many, but after the
initial thrill, may well begin to grate.
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